appointed a new auxiliary bishop

It is Mons. Joseph Bui Cong Trac, rector of the San José Major Seminary. He joins Bishop Louis Nguyen Anh Tuan, who was appointed in 2017. The Archbishop congratulated him and asked the faithful to pray for him.

Ho Chi Minh City () – Bishop Joseph Bui Cong Trac, rector of the major seminary of Saint Joseph, has been appointed auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City by Pope Francis.

Father Peter Kieu Cong Tung, chancellor of the archbishop’s house, made the announcement yesterday during a special prayer meeting. Bishop Joseph Nguyen Nang, the archbishop, asked the faithful to pray for the new bishop and congratulated and thanked Bishop Trac for having “bravely obeyed” the Holy See.

Monsignor Trac is the second auxiliary bishop chosen by the Vatican after Louis Nguyen Anh Tuan, who was appointed in 2017, and the sixth from the Saint Joseph Seminary.

Born in 1965 in Da Lat parish, Dam Long province, Monsignor Trac studied philosophy and theology and was ordained a priest in 1999. From 2004 to 2010 he studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he obtained his doctorate in Catholic Social Doctrine. Before becoming rector of the San José major seminary, he held various positions, including deputy director of the Pontifical Missionary College of Saint Paul the Apostle in Rome.

More than 700,000 Catholics live in the Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City (former Archdiocese of Saigon), equivalent to 10.4% of the city’s population. It has about 900 priests and 6 thousand religious. For years after the unification of Vietnam in 1975, the communist authorities restricted the activities of the Church and persecuted many Catholics.